When Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon decide to spy on a presentation her uncle, the commanding Lord Asriel, is making to the elders of Jordan College they have no idea that they will become witnesses to an attempted murder, and even less that they are taking the first steps in a journey that will lead them into danger and adventure unlike anything Lyra's unfettered imagination has conjured up.

The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials, Book 2

In this stunning sequel to The Golden Compass, the intrepid Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld, Cittagazze, where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky. But she is not without allies: 12-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm.

The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials, Book 3

Lyra and Will, the two ordinary children whose extraordinary adventures begin in The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, are in unspeakable danger. With help from Iorek Byrnison the armored bear and two tiny Gallivespian spies, they must journey to a dank and gray-lit world where no living soul has ever gone.

Lyra's Oxford

An exciting new tale set in the world of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials saga. Lyra's Oxford opens in the thrilling comfort and familiarity of Jordan College, where Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon sit on the sun-drenched roof looking out over all of Oxford. But their peace is shattered when a strange bird (a witch's daemon, on its own) tumbles out of the sky. It is Ragi, daemon of Yelena Pazhets.

Once Upon a Time in the North

Another mesmerizing episode from the universe of His Dark Materials set in the far frozen Arctic, including the very first meeting of those two legends and friends Lee Scoresby, the Texan balloonist, and Iorek Byrnison, the armored bear.

George's Secret Key to the Universe

George's parents, who have always been wary of technology, warn him about their new neighbors: Eric is a scientist and his daughter, Annie, seems to be following in his footsteps. But when George befriends them and Cosmos, their super-computer, he finds himself on a wildly fun adventure, while learning about physics, time, and the universe. With Cosmos' help, he can travel to other planets and a black hole. But what would happen if the wrong people got their hands on Cosmos?

Sabriel

Ever since she was a tiny child, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that world.

The Spiderwick Chronicles, Volume II: Books 3 & 4

Less than half a year ago, Tony and I received a mysterious note from Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace, three children who have experienced authentic encounters with the beings we call faeries. As hard as it was for us to believe, we came to see that there was no alternative explanation. Now, putting aside personal concerns, we bring their stories to you.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ is the remarkable new piece of fiction from best-selling and famously atheistic author Philip Pullman. By challenging the events of the gospels, Pullman puts forward his own compelling and plausible version of the life of Jesus, and in so doing, does what all great books do: makes the reader ask questions.

The Wrath of Mulgarath: The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 5

Less than half a year ago, Tony and I received a mysterious note from Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace, three children who have experienced authentic encounters with the beings we call faeries. As hard as it was for us to believe, we came to see that there was no alternative explanation. Now, putting aside personal concerns, we bring their stories to you.

Inkheart

Imagine it were possible to bring the characters from a book to life. Not like when you listen to an audiobook with such enchantment that the characters seem to jump off the pages and into your bedroom...but for real. Imagine they could actually climb out of the pages and into our world. Then imagine if those characters brought their world into ours.

The Graveyard Book: Full-Cast Production

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack - who has already killed Bod's family…

The Complete Chronicles of Narnia: The Classic BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisations

C.S. Lewis’s acclaimed and universally loved novels spring to life in these spellbinding full-cast BBC dramatisations. Anyone who’s visited Narnia wants to go back again, and these radio dramas make for a hugely entertaining first-time or return journey, with a cast including Bernard Cribbins, Maurice Denham, Richard Griffiths, Martin Jarvis, Sylvester McCoy, John Sessions, Fiona Shaw and Timothy Spall.

The Spiderwick Chronicles, Volume I: Books 1 & 2

Less than half a year ago, Tony and I received a mysterious note from Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace, three children who have experienced authentic encounters with the beings we call faeries. As hard as it was for us to believe, we came to see that there was no alternative explanation. Now, putting aside personal concerns, we bring their stories to you.

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn't just want to run from somewhere she wants to run to somewhere--to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and preferably elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing that her younger brother, Jamie, has money and thus can help her with the serious cash flow problem she invites him along.

A Wrinkle in Time

Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course, and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a "tesseract," which, if you didn't know, is a wrinkle in time. Meg's father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared. Will Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin outwit the forces of evil as they search through space for their father?

Good Omens

The world will end on Saturday. Next Saturday. Just before dinner, according to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing and everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.

Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr

Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Abandoned by her mother, ignorant of her father's identity, Lirael resembles no one else in her large extended family living in the Clayr's glacier. She doesn't even have the Sight, the ability to See into the present and possibly futures, that is the very birthright of the Clayr.

The Dark Is Rising: Book 2 of The Dark Is Rising Sequence

On the Midwinter Day that is his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers a special gift: he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to keeping the world from domination by the forces of evil, the Dark. At once, he is plunged into a quest for the six magical Signs that will one day aid the Old Ones in the final battle between the Dark and the Light. And for the twelve days of Christmas, while the Dark is rising, life for Will is full of wonder, terror, and delight.

Audible Editor Reviews

Why we think it's Essential: A street-smart girl. Her pet daemon. A golden compass that reads truth itself. Oh, and a full cast dramatic reading that includes author Philip Pullman. The book is fantastic, and the full cast audiobook is that much better. This is the first book of a trilogy that is as exciting as The Lord of the Rings and will prove as timeless as The Chronicles of Narnia. Chris Doheny

Publisher's Summary

When Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon decide to spy on a presentation her uncle, the commanding Lord Asriel, is making to the elders of Jordan College they have no idea that they will become witnesses to an attempted murder, and even less that they are taking the first steps in a journey that will lead them into danger and adventure unlike anything Lyra's unfettered imagination has conjured up.

Though she has been raised at the college in an atmosphere of benign neglect that has allowed her to become a half-wild child of the streets, Lyra soon finds herself apprenticed to the elegant Mrs. Coulter, and in possession of a strange device called the alethiometer, a "golden compass" that reads not true worth, but truth itself.

But truth is a precious commodity, and before long Lyra and Pan are running for their lives, the object of an obsessive hunt by mysterious forces who have been stealing children for dark purposes that no one understands. Lyra will need all her street-learned wiles if she and Pan are to survive.

An international sensation from the moment it was published, The Golden Compass comes to spectacular new life in this unabridged recording, narrated by Philip Pullman himself, with the support of some of the finest actors of the London stage.

What the Critics Say

"Superb...Wonder-filled." (Washington Post Book World) "Very grand indeed...Scene after scene of power and beauty." (The New York Times) "A rousing, page-turning adventure that promises to please fantasy readers of all ages." (Library Journal)

My entire family has gotten hooked on this book, to the extent that we look for reasons to get in the car and drive with it. I was so enthralled that we ran out of gas. Imaginitive premise, interesting and well-developed characters, and many plot twists. I thought you could not top Jim Dale reading the Harry Potter stories, but this is right up there.
A word of advice: With different actors playing different characters, this did not play back well on level 2, and we almost gave up on it. Load it at the highest resolution you can play. If it seems a little slow at the start, hang in there. The characters keep getting more imaginitive, and the plot more suspensful.

I've been listening to audio books for quite some time and this one by far is the best. Performed by a full cast where each actor assumes the role of one of the characters, the listener is transported into Pullman's world.

Set in the fictional past of early 20th century England, every human has what is called a "demon". As children these demons can assume any animal form, often changing depending on the mood of their child. Demons are animal representations of human souls, and no one is complete without one. After puberty, the demons assume one form and stay that way for life. Demons seem to take on the type of animal the person is in life, for example servants tend to have dogs as demons, loyal and obedient. Scholars have birds such as ravens, intelligent and far-seeing. One sailor has a dolphin or some such creature as a demon, thereby tying him forever to the ocean. Humans and their demons are mentally connected. What one feels, the other feels. They can talk to each other and cannot be away from each other, even at close distances or they feel great pain and anxiety.

Lyra, an orphaned pre-teen girl, and her demon Pan (yet to assume one form) find themselves in the middle of a political conspiracy. Unsure of who to trust and who their true allies are, their life was changed forever when they witnessed the Master of the college where they had spent all their years as a ward, attempt to poison Lyra's estranged uncle.

Her uncle, involved in some strange discoveries and experiments has returned to the college to ask for money to continue his work, investigating the origin of subatomic particles referred to as "dust". For some reason the scholars of the college are suprised to learn that this mysterious "dust" does not cling to children. After he receives the money and thwarts an attempt to poison him, he returns to his work.

What is dust? And why are children all over England disappearing? Lyra soon embarks on a journey to seek these answers.

While I don't think this is a book for children, I do think this book is amazing - the narriator is very good as well. I loved these books when I read them - and I loved them just as much while listening. You won't be disappointed.

I love that the heroine of this book,12-year-old Lyra, is a feisty girl who knows more about acting humanely than most of the adults in this novel. The world she lives is similar to the present day with some twists – namely talking polar bears, witches, daemons, and a splash of Norwegian folk-lore. The mix of reality and fantasy reminded me somewhat of “The Amulet of Samarkand,” by Jonathan Stroud, although if you know anything about the Stroud series you’d see profound differences regarding the role of daemons. Daemons in this novel are attached to each character and a reflection of their soul. The full-cast narration was superb and a joy to listen to. There are many great ambiguous moments regarding the decisions Lyra must make and you soon see that all is not as it seems. This is the first book in a series.

This was hard to start listening to. The voice of Lyra was sort of manic, but she grew on me. And once "knowing" her, I realized that it is her character, not just bad direction.
The plot completely drew me in, until I was at the point of not wanting to turn off my Ipod. The story, along with the full cast really made you feel the intensity of their situations.
Now for the "anti-God" thing...umm...I didn't think that it was that bad. Especially since the world that Lyra lives in is basically a "parallel" world. Yes, the Church has done some incredibly horrific things in the past. So why is it such a stretch for someone to put it into a fictional story? And for the whole thing about "killing God"??? A bit over-hyped...but that is the fundamentalist way.
Young children wouldn't understand this story very well, and some parts would scare them. Older kids I think should read/listen to it. They should recieve more credit than many are willing to give.

I saw the movie, and I thought it was great. However, as with any great film adaptation there is still much to be said about the unabridged book. There was a great deal left out of the movie that I experienced through this novel.

I only wish I had discovered this unabridged audiobook before I saw the movie so I could compare my imagination to the director's take.

Again, the audio quality and imaginative story make for a thoroughly entertaining listen--I highly recommend it.

Okay, let's get this out of the way. The complaints that hard-core Christians have about this book? Well, unlike the Harry Potter books, I can sort of see their point here. I may not quite agree with them, but I can respect their opinions. (The Harry Potter haters just need to get freaking lives.)

Tha being said, I think this is a wonderful fantasy novel both for adults, and kids from about ten or eleven up. I think any younger, and the kids will miss too much (particularly in later books).

If you dislike criticism of organized religion, do not read this book. And you probably shouldn't let your kid read it, which is your right, as long as you don't try to stop MY kids from reading it.

I know they've made a movie out of this-- I saw the first commercial WHILE I was downloading the book-- but I really don't see how they'll pull it off.

Although aimed at younger readers, like the Harry Potter books, The Golden Compass trilogy is very entertaining to adults, as well. The story follows young Lyra and her daemon Pan through adventures in an alternate universe, where magic is common and each person's soul takes on the external form of his or her daemon. Pullman's writing is brilliant and very dynamic, and this is much more than a simple children's book. While great for listeners of any age, younger children may need a little guidance, though shouldn't have too much trouble following the story. Highly recommended!

As a fan of fantasy literature I do not put Pullman on a level with Tolkein or Lewis, but the story ranks up there with the some of the best fantasy ever written. Very artful use of language to evoke a world like and yet unlike our own.

Whether you like the story or not, though, I think the performance is without question one of the best. The author narrates well, giving the reader the clear sense that the story is being told, emphasised, pronounced exactly as intended. The cast of London stage actors that lend their voices to the characters are wonderfully diverse, authentic and entertaining.

You get the "drama" of a dramatization without the distraction of sound effects and edits to the work.

I can not wait until my daughter is old enough to enjoy this book as much as I did. Not only are the characters rich and fantastic like a good story should but the underlying message is absolutely brilliant. I can see how some religious folks can find the work a bit disconcerting but when it comes down to it some of us find the Bible to be just another story book as well. It's fascinating to jump into a world that leads you into opening your mind and widening your perception. This book will get your gears moving and when it starts it's like a perpetual motion machine.

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